Pre-Law Advising

As the Law School Admission Council and American Bar Association state in their Official Guide, "the ABA does not recommend any undergraduate majors or group of courses to prepare for a legal education." Instead, they recommend "taking a broad range of difficult courses from demanding instructors" as the best generic preparation for law school. The LSAC and ABA recommend a curriculum that teaches "analytical and problem-solving skills, critical reading abilities, writing skills, oral communication and listening abilities, [and] general research skills." Accordingly, while Puget Sound offers no undergraduate pre-law major, it provides exactly the foundational skill set recommended for pre-law preparation through a wide variety of majors, encouraging students interested in the law to follow the academic program that most interests them and to seize every opportunity to take courses that will promote their critical thinking, reading, writing, and research skills.

In their early years at Puget Sound, students interested in the law should concentrate on taking challenging courses in the disciplines that intrigue them. When they reach their junior year, they should begin in earnest to research and prepare applications to law school, as well as to take the Law School Admission Test. Pre-law advisors among the faculty and in the Office of Academic Advising are available to help them with these tasks.

Resource materials for pre-law students are available in the Office of Academic Advising’s graduate study library, Howarth 101. These

resources include the Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools, books covering the law school admission process, LSAT booklets, and LSAT preparation guides.